Elf (Mystic Guardians #2)

Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

A laric

When Ezra spoke, it was in a hushed whisper though they’d both just made enough noise to wake the dead.

“I saw my ex murder someone.”

Alaric’s muscles tightened, and so did his arms around Ezra. “Who?”

“I didn’t know the man. I’d awakened in the middle of the night in my room—I had my own because Brian and I didn’t share—and I’d gone downstairs to get a snack. There were noises coming from his office, so even though we were in a bad place at the time, I decided to see what he was doing. Brian was in there, along with his two main bodyguards and the men I call the twins. There was a man tied to a chair, a stranger. He was crying. Snot and tears all over his face as whimpers came out around the gag in his mouth.”

“What did you do?” Alaric asked as he stared at the dark ceiling.

“Stayed very quiet. Brian was firing out questions about some shipment, but I couldn’t understand why since the guy was gagged and couldn’t speak. None of them saw me. At first. Brian and his goons had their backs to me, but Brian calmly walked up to the tied man and slowly slit his throat all the way across—so, so slowly. Like he relished the feel of the blade cutting through skin. As it was happening, the tied man’s eyes met mine and despite the gaping line in his neck, for one instant, his eyes flared with hope.”

Ezra made a choking noise and pressed his cheek against Alaric’s chest.

“You couldn’t have helped him. Not at that point.”

“I know, but still seeing that small hope killed me. There was blood everywhere, Alaric. I still see that blood sometimes when I close my eyes. But that night, I just silently backed out of the office and hurried back up to my room. I locked the door before throwing up all over the floor. Then I just sat there, staring at nothing for I don’t know how long. It was like I couldn’t move, couldn’t focus.”

“You were in shock.”

“I watched a man die and did nothing about it.”

“Did you go to the police?”

He shook his head, making his lips brush close to Alaric’s nipple. “I couldn’t. I’d seen cops in the house before and knew some were on my ex’s payroll. Didn’t know who I could trust. No, all I did was pack my things and sneak out the next day. I’ve never been so scared in my life. I had cash stashed, so I stayed in cheap motels that would take cash for several weeks. I thought about going to my brother but even though there’s no love lost between us, I still didn’t want to put him in danger. Finally, I just decided to stand up for myself. I went to the bank and took Brian off everything, got the apartment and a lawyer, and sent him papers.”

“I can’t imagine a man like your ex would be too happy about that.”

“Oh, he wasn’t. I kept changing my number, but he always got it. Called me every single day. I wouldn’t—no, I couldn’t talk to him. Every time I even contemplated answering that phone, nausea would slam into my gut, and that man’s terrified hope-filled eyes came back to me.” He paused for a few moments before whispering, “I have nightmares still, and it’s been months. I’d never seen anyone die.” He lifted his head to look at Alaric. “Have you?”

“I have. In my line of work, it happens, but remember I’ve been around for over a hundred years. You see a lot in that much time.”

“Ever have nightmares?”

Alaric nodded. “With the first one. I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and it was…violent.”

“Something you don’t like to talk about?”

“Not particularly, no. There is some irony in this story, though. The first person I saw killed was taken out by a fire sylph.”

Ezra shuddered. “I can only imagine what that was like.”

“Try not to.”

Ezra laid his head back down and ran his hand over Alaric’s stomach. They rested there quietly for a long time. So long that Alaric thought Ezra had finally fallen asleep.

“Alaric?”

“Still here,” he teased.

“I was right, you know.”

“About what?”

“That it would be the best sex of my life. Were you serious about wanting it to happen again?”

“Very serious, Ezra.”

“I’m glad because…you smell like this combination of us, and you feel so damn good under my hand, I’m already hard again.”

Ezra stroking his stomach had already made Alaric’s body interested in another round. He’d already accepted that he wouldn’t ever be getting his fill of this man, and he also wanted to erase the memories Ezra had been sharing. Replace them with better ones. So he hauled Ezra up until the man was lying on top of him and cupped the sides of his head.

They started kissing which fired him up. It wasn’t long before Alaric was all the way hard again. Ezra started to thrust against him, their dicks sliding together. Ezra must have already started leaking precum; Alaric could feel the wetness, though it was slight.

But he was in no hurry, despite the fact they really needed to sleep at some point with what they had coming up the next day. Or later that day, since it was past midnight.

Ezra moaned into his mouth, his hips picking up speed, and as before, Alaric felt this strong connection between them growing. It was like a pull in his chest—a warm one, like that pull was made of sunlight. Or better yet, nature. It felt similar to when he put his hands on the earth and took her magic into his body. His power seemed to increase, but he was too distracted by Ezra’s sexy movements to really delve into what was happening. Plus, the man’s mouth was pure ambrosia.

Neither said a word. Neither asked what the other wanted. It was like they had both been overcome by nothing but the need to make each other come. Alaric wanted to see that pleasure wash over Ezra’s features again. He needed to see it.

With an almost feral growl, he rolled them over, propped himself up so he could see Ezra’s face, and rolled his hips into Ezra’s. He began to thrust hard against him, loving the way Ezra’s features went slack with something close to rapture. This human just gave himself over to what he was feeling. Alaric couldn’t take his gaze off him.

Ezra was sliding his hands all over Alaric’s arms, shoulders, and back. When he reached down to dig his fingers into the globes of Alaric’s ass, they both gasped.

“Grab the lube,” Ezra panted.

“I’m not going to fuck you so soon. You’ll be sore.”

Ezra gave another of his snorts, but this time it held more humor. “I don’t care, but you could just get us slippery.” He sucked in a breath when Alaric slowed his hips then started patting the bed around them. “Never mind. I got it.”

Alaric lifted himself up more and watched as Ezra hurried through slicking up his hand then reached between them to take both their cocks in it. He gave a tight stroke that mashed their heads together. Alaric groaned. “Slippery. Good.”

The delighted laugh that shot out of Ezra filled Alaric’s heart with joy. But then all he felt was pleasure as Ezra kept stroking them together.

“You have a gorgeous dick,” Ezra panted. “So nice and thick.”

“Liking yours.”

“Fuck, I love that I’m making you lose that proper speech you always use.”

Alaric just grunted, and Ezra let out another joyful laugh. He began to stroke them faster, and Alaric just held still, his every sense focused on how good everything felt. And instead of his orgasm building, this one just suddenly slammed into him. Red-hot pleasure soared through him and his entire body went taut. He shouted. Or more like roared.

“Oh fuck,” Ezra groaned as he kept stroking his fist around them.

Alaric let out another growl, this one quieter, and scooted down fast so he could take Ezra into his mouth. He didn’t give a shit about the lube and semen and in fact just relished it all as he swallowed the man down his throat.

Ezra actually whimpered, stiffened completely, then let out the longest moan as he spilled down Alaric’s throat. “Oh, my god,” he gasped out, shuddering hard.

Alaric fell to the side, their legs still tangled together. He was breathing so hard the bed was shaking. Ezra turned his head and just stared at him, utter shock on his face.

Yeah, he got it. His heart was beating hard, his breaths labored, and he suddenly couldn’t wait until they could do that again.

But finally, exhaustion was settling in. He wrapped one arm around Ezra and tugged him as close as possible, hearing a tired sigh.

“I think I can sleep now,” Ezra slurred. “Holy shit.”

This time, Alaric snorted. Holy shit was right.